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From the opening of Hong Kong as a free port to the end of World War II, this book uses the most concise language to explain the development of modern Hong Kong, allowing readers to grasp the modern history of Hong Kong in the shortest time and in a relaxed manner. This book abandons the general chronological arrangement of historical events in typical history books, and divides modern Hong Kong into seven main contexts: from British colonial rule to the dark age of Japanese occupation, from different aspects of education, transportation, public security and military, to the introduction of important industries and different ethnic groups, the spread of Western religions, and the addition of "Chronology of Major Events (1839-1945)" and "Further Reading". Each picture in the book is a small piece of knowledge about Hong Kong, telling one Hong Kong story after another.
- AuthorSiu Kwok-kin
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2021
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Many people believe that the characteristic of Miriam Yeung's songs is "the integration of herself as a person in her lyrics", interpreting her life through songs, such as the well-known "Yeung Chin Wah" and "Brave". Later on, she excelled in both singing and acting, and the film studio followed the same "rule" to tailor-make movie roles for her, such as "Fang Lijuan" and "Yu Chunqiao". In show business, a lack of advantageous background or exceptional beauty may not be conducive to one’s career development, but for Yeung, this is the reason why she is popular. The author of this book, Billy Ng Tsz-yu, is a diehard fan of Yeung. He analyzes Miriam Yeung's creation from the perspective of cultural studies and re-examines this star who has been popular for 20 years while still remaining true to herself. Yeung's success in the music and film industries is not something that she alone can achieve, but requires creators and opportunities behind her. This book analyzes the idol culture and pop music industry phenomena after the 1990s through the analysis of Yeung's achievements, and also interviews many fans and people who have worked with her, such as Huang Xiuping and Chen Yongshen. The book will also include photos of Yeung’s merchandise collected by fans and the author himself.
- AuthorBilly Ng Tsz-yu
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2019
Chinese martial arts have a long history and are an essential part of Chinese culture. However, there are few and incomplete historical documents left. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, rulers used martial arts to train soldiers and boost morale. However, historical records on military martial arts, folk martial arts, martial arts for physical and mental strength training are rare and scattered across different genres and contexts, some of which are mixed with literary creations and other elements. The author of this book proposes that today's Chinese martial arts, which combine different elements such as fighting, health preservation, and self-cultivation, are probably the result of a process of retrospection, screening, and construction. After the late Qing Dynasty, amid the atmosphere of craving a strong country and strong race, martial arts received new attention, which opened up attempts to transform Chinese martial arts. New systems, organizations, and discourses emerged. Old resources, old stories, personal experiences, foreign cultures, re-surfaced to varying degree, interweaving with and even contradicting each other. In this volume of convoluted narrative, the history of martial arts has been reshaped, its connotation has been screened and supplemented, and its significance at the times has been highlighted, creating a journey of martial arts in modern times.
- AuthorRicardo Mak King-sang, Lau Kai-yiu
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2022
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She kept her heart for herself to eat when she was hungry – Yau Kong-kin's Love Poem Yau Kong-kin wrote avant-garde literature and practiced art when he was young. Then devoted himself to the mainstream film industry. After many years of experience and persistence, he became a well-known screenwriter in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. His life and writing experiences have been intertwined with the changing film trends as well as cultural and artistic landscapes in Hong Kong and Taiwan since the 1960. This book traces Yau's creative process from his early years to his later years, focusing on films, and also covering drama, poetry, novels and his artistic and literary creation concepts. At the same time, it includes Yau's early plays, novels, poems and experimental film and drama notes, alongside his correspondences with friends discussing about literature and art, in a view to present Yau's creative process from multiple perspectives. Yau Kong-kin (1940-2013) was a screenwriter, poet, film coordinator and director. He was born on Gulangyu Island, Fujian, and moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949. After graduating from the Film and Drama School of Taiwan Art College, he studied in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1965, he and Zhuang Ling launched the "Theatre" quarterly, and together with editors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, translated and introduced contemporary Western film theories and drama works to a Chinese speaking audience. He directed the play "Waiting for Godot", and filmed the bold and avant-garde experimental short film "Alienation", forming the first wave of Taiwan's experimental films that spread to Hong Kong. In 1966, Yau joined Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong as an editor. He worked with directors such as Chang Cheh, Chu Yuan, Ann Hui, Kwan Kam-Pang, and Johnnie To under the pen names of Dai Anping, Qiu Dai Anping, and Qiu Shui Chang An. His important works include "The Killer Rings" (1968, Yue Feng), "The Big Boss" (1971, Chang Cheh), "Escape from Coral Cove" (1982, Tang Kim-Ming), "Boat People" (1982, Ann Hui), "The Story of Woo Viet" (1982, Ann Hui), "The Wild Girls" (1984, Fang Ling-Ching), "Dream Lovers" (1986, Au Ting-Ping), "Underground Romance" (1986, Kwan Kam-Pang), "Red Dust" (1988, Kwan Kam-Pang), and "Center Stage" (1992, Kwan Kam-Pang). These are all famous Hong Kong films with brilliant achievements, and many of them are the director's representative works. His screenwriting works have earned him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay three times, and he is highly respected by his peers in the film industry. The Hong Kong Screenwriters Association regards him as a master. Yau Kong-kin continued his poetic, delicate, and avant-garde style and directed "The Magnificent Concubine" (1985) and "Ah Ying" (1993). He moved to New York in the early 1990s and settled in Beijing in his later years. He never stopped writing poetry and published poetry collections such as "Dead Wife, Z, and Miscellaneous Thoughts" and "Starting Again When You're More Debauched".
- AuthorLaw Kar, Joyce Yang, Lau Yam
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2014
The author's research covers the period from 1844 to 1945. By understanding the life and work of dock coolies, the author examines how these Chinese lower-class interacted with the government to shed new light on Chinese society. The study focuses on the dock coolie community because there is a lack of relevant discourse in existing Hong Kong historical literature. Since it became a free port, the relationship between the shipping industry and Hong Kong's economic development has been close. Before the war, the transportation of goods relied on manpower, and it was an industry that many grassroots Chinese relied on for their livelihoods due to a lack of survival skills. Therefore, dock coolies’ life is representative of the general conditions experienced by the Chinese community in Hong Kong. This study uses a social history perspective to look at the history of Chinese people and the colonial government through the Hong Kong dock coolie community, as a supplementary discourse to Hong Kong history. The author uses a micro-historical approach to reconstruct the history of the lower-class community by collecting and organizing a large amount of fragmented historical materials, thereby achieving the goal of reflecting on Hong Kong people's values.
- AuthorJoanna Yiu Wing-ka
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2015
Written by a film critic, this book portrays women personalities in Hong Kong’s show business on a personal level, presenting a collective landscape. In the 1970s, Hong Kong films were in a period of transition. After the new wave, a new generation of stars emerged. Among them were actresses who could really act, goddesses, sex bombs, female martial artists, singing divas, pretty daughters from humble background, female comedians, women villains, and horror queens, adding rich colors to the golden age of Hong Kong films in the 1980s, 1990s. This book analyzes 43 contemporary Hong Kong female film stars from different angles, revealing their charm, personalities, acting skills, personal backgrounds, directors collaborating with them, and the spirit of the times, projecting their intriguing and fascinating performances on the screen.
- AuthorCecilia Wong, Po Fung
- PublisherJoint Publishing
- Publication Date2017